The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 30 (some may also be given separate headlines):
A committee meeting at the World Trade Organization on agriculture focused on heavy subsidies to farmers in both the developed and developing world, with particular criticism of India by the U.S. and Australia, according to a summary of the meeting held Nov. 27 in Geneva. The U.S. repeated its complaint about cotton (see 1811130032), and was backed by Brazil, the European Union and Australia. India said the U.S. was not justified in linking domestic support to exports of cotton. New Zealand sided with India, saying that rich countries also distort agriculture economics through subsidies. The U.S. also questioned India on an increased tariff on milk whey powder, from 20 percent to 40 percent. India said the higher tariff is still under its bound tariff rate. The EU complained India repeatedly raises tariffs to restrict trade, and that the gap between the applied tariff and the WTO-bound rate is a problem. The U.S. wanted to question Ghana about import requirements on poultry, but no representative was in the meeting from that country.
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 28 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The European Union recently issued the following trade-related release (notices of most significance will be given separate headlines):
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 26 (some may also be given separate headlines):
China will be hurt more than the U.S. by their trade war, but growth will be dampened in both countries, according to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD forecasts that the Chinese GDP will drop by .5 percentage point if the current U.S. tariffs that are set to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent do so on Jan. 1; it will drop by 1 percentage point if tariffs are levied by the U.S. on all Chinese exports. And, business uncertainty could cause a drop of 1.3 percentage points, the Nov. 21 report suggested.
The EU and 11 other countries plan to present a proposal to reform the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, the European Commission said in a news release. The U.S. has prevented appointments to the appellate body in recent years, leaving it without the required minimum of judges. "The appellate body function of the WTO dispute settlement system is moving towards a cliff's edge," EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said. "Without this core function of the WTO, the world would lose a system that has ensured stability in global trade for decades. Now, together with a broad coalition of WTO members, we are presenting our most concrete proposals yet for WTO reform. I hope that this will contribute to breaking the current deadlock, and that all WTO members will take responsibility equally, engaging in good faith in the reform process." The proposal from the EU, Australia, Canada, China, Iceland, India, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland is scheduled to be presented at a Dec. 12 WTO meeting, it said. The proposal includes new rules for outgoing appellate judges and efficiency improvements, it said.